The true number of U.S. casualties, is anyone confused?

[hangloose]

I've been to a number of sites that stipulate casualties are X, but these numbers are refuted by other site who either insinuate or state that the official government figures are under stated, intentionally.

Well it would seem that of the statistics that are available the U.S. casualty count, provided by the government, should be accurate. But being untrustworthy of our government these days I'm a bit skeptical of "anything" they say.

Should I not question theses figures?

Does anyone else have doubts about the number of US dead and wounded as a result of the Iraq fiasco.

[maxudargo]

1. I've been relying on http://icasualties.org

The defense department announces each death, with the soldier's name and where he or she was from, along with other information. I don't see how they could fail to report deaths. The soldier's family and friends would know or soon find out, and it would be noted that the government failed to announce the death.

They could delay announcements, or lie about the circumstances. And they could downplay non-fatal casualties, since they are not announcing the identity of each of those wounded, but I don't think they could long hide the number of fatalities.

Some of the confusion might be from the different casualty figures that are quoted. There is one number for total coalition force deaths (about 1,530, currently), another for the number of US troops killed (about 1,370), and a number for the number of US troops killed in action as opposed to "non-hostile" deaths (about 1,150).

[hangloose]

2. Yes I am familiar with the figures you posted, but I am seeing

numbers two to three times those figures being quoted. There was one site that stated if the service man was taken off the battle field wounded to lets say Germany and then died in the hospital that would not be listed as a combat death. Is this true to your knowledge?

[maxudargo]

4. Well...hm

I've seen a few of the deaths on icasualties showing the place of death being hospitals in Germany or the US, but not many. I still think it would raise a stink if the government weren't counting these as part of their casualty figures. In my community the last couple of months we saw our first two kids killed there, and if they had died in a hospital outside of Iraq, we still would have expected their deaths to be acknowledged as combat deaths. Both deaths were a pretty big deal here. I just don't see how they could ignore any deaths and get away with it.

Where are you seeing the figures that are much higher?

[izzie]

6. I have also read this.

What ever you can be sure they are doing every thing to make it look less. So you die in non-combat and they do not count you. Trouble is your dead. And just for get you died in a car going to the hospital after having your leg blown off. The dead used to be the dead until Vietnam and these last few wars. Are the Quartermasters putting out a list on their own? I just do not know how all this has got into how we do things. It has to be because of the way we go to war but really most people are not behind them. We really need to have Congress do something. It was one of our basic things. that our rulers would not do the war thing.

[LynnTheDem]

9. No it is not true.

The ICC does record deaths that happen after a soldier is removed from Iraq to a hospital.

Centcom and DOD both release death notices in such cases.

[Warpy]

7. Those are the "killed in action" who are either dead right there,

dead on arrival, or dead soon after arrival at a field hospital. The ones who survive to be transported to a hospital either inside or outside Iraq but who succumb to wounds or complication days or even hours later are not counted in this total.

The military keeps these totals, of course. However, the true total is not being released to the public for obvious reasons.

[maxudargo]

8. I really don't think they could get away with what you're suggesting

If a member of your family was wounded in Iraq, moved to a remote hospital and died days or weeks later from the wounds, you would see that as a combat death. He died serving his country in Iraq as a soldier. If you didn't see that family member listed in the official tally of combat deaths, you would protest. In fact, it would probably have an impact on benefits and insurance claims and such, and you would have a financial interest in keeping the record straight.

I suspect you guys are going to ignore any logic here, because you want to believe the numbers are under-stated, but I don't see how the government could get away with it. Aren't the real numbers bad enough?

[LynnTheDem]

10. SIGH...YES THEY ARE COUNTED.

YES the deaths that happen weeks or months or even years later in hospital of a soldier wounded in Iraq IS COUNTED.

YES Centcom and the DoD release death notices of such.

In FACT they release death notices OF ALL SOLDIERS KILLED, even if it's a vehicle accident back in the US.

[Vinca]

12. How do you know they're counted?

I emailed the Dept. of Defense some time ago with this question and never got a response. When daily deaths in Iraq got more attention from the press, the total number killed would go up by the number of deaths that particular day. Unless you've got a good source, I'm not so sure military people who succumb days or weeks or months later from injuries on the battlefield are counted.

[LynnTheDem]

13. I know they're counted

Go to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count site; we spend MANY HOURS every day of every week of every month researching and making sure every death is counted. DoD and Centcom DO send out death releases when a soldier dies, regardless of when the soldier dies.

I am very sure they're all counted.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[maxudargo]

14. You're involved in maintaining that site?

I appreciate the work you do. I have a link to that site on my homepage and rely on it to keep abreast of casualty figures.

[bluetrain]

3. What they are not obligated to report...

are the soldiers who die both in transit to and within hospitals not in Iraq. Nor do they have to report soldiers who kill themselves once they return because of the trauma. I don't know for sure but I think the suicides that take place while in Iraq do have to be reported though they may lie about cause of death.

[hangloose]

5. Yep this confirms what I've read as well, the question is

how many of our young men and woman fall into that category and are not listed?

[LynnTheDem]

11. YES they DO report all such cases.

ALL of them.